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Malloy Industries
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Frequently Asked Questions

We believe clarity drives execution. Here are the most common questions—answered simply—so you can run faster without relying on back-and-forths.

 

Fractional Executive Engagement & Pricing

What is the pricing structure for hiring a fractional executive through Malloy Industries?

A: We believe in radical transparency about investment, so there are no surprises or hidden fees. Your total investment has three parts:

  1. Strategic Clarity & Matchmaking Program – $5,000 one-time
    This upfront engagement gives you operational clarity. We use data, not guesses, to identify what’s really holding you back so you can stop guessing and start scaling.
    One-Time Success Fee – $4,500 per executive
    This is paid to Malloy Industries and covers your leadership safety net—our guarantees, reporting, and ongoing strategic support.
    Monthly Retainer – typically $5,000–$15,000 per month
    This is paid directly to your fractional executive and depends on scope and hours. For complex or multi-market roles, retainers can go up to $25,000 per month.

     

We walk through this structure with you before you sign anything, so you know exactly what you’re investing in and why.

Engagements are flexible and month-to-month. We earn the right to keep working with you by delivering results—not by locking you into a rigid long-term contract.

This low-sacrifice structure keeps you in control: you can dial support up or down as your needs and budget change.

Think of this as your leadership insurance plan. It dramatically reduces hiring risk and keeps your executive support aligned as you grow. It includes:

  • Second Match Free Guarantee (365-day warranty)
    If the initial match isn’t the right fit within the first year, we replace your fractional executive at no additional success fee. You never feel stuck with the wrong leader.
  • Weekly TPS (Trust-building Progress Snapshot) Reports
    Clear, concise updates that provide visibility and accountability without micromanagement. No more chasing status updates or wondering what’s happening.
  • Monthly Check-ins
    A regular rhythm to confirm we’re focused on the right priorities and adjust as your business evolves.
  • Quarterly Strategic Business Reviews
    A deeper, structured review to align on goals, measure impact, and plan the next phase of growth.

We replace uncertainty with a clear, three-step strategic process:

  1. Strategic Clarity Assessment (Month One)
    You work directly with Mike Malloy and our Chief of Staff, Tina. We apply pattern recognition from 125+ scaling companies to find the cracks, risks, and hidden opportunities across your business.
  2. Matchmaking
    In the second half of that first month, we match you with the best-fit fractional executives from our vetted network—based on your goals, culture, and operational gaps.

Prioritized Action Plan
You receive a clear, prioritized roadmap: what we’ll tackle first, second, and third. Chaos turns into an executable game plan your team can follow.

That’s a great outcome—and a sign the “try before you buy” model worked.

Traditional executive search firms typically charge 25%–33% of first-year total compensation for a leader you’ve never worked with.

If you choose to hire your Malloy fractional executive full-time, we charge 15% of total compensation. You already know how they perform, how they lead, and how they fit your culture—so your hiring risk drops dramatically.

 

Fractional Executive Categorization

How does Malloy Industries categorize fractional sales executives?

We group fractional sales executives into seven clear categories so you get exactly the kind of support you need:

  1. Leader – Sets sales strategy, builds repeatable systems, and owns the big picture.
  2. Manager – Runs pipeline meetings, manages AEs/SDRs, and does 1:1 coaching.
  3. Recruiter – Sources, interviews, vets, and onboards sales talent.
  4. Trainer – Trains current and future team members on process, playbooks, and skills.
  5. Individual Contributor – Sells, closes, and hits (or beats) quota.
  6. End-to-end – Owns the full cycle from top-of-funnel to signed contracts.
  7. Coach – Coaches founders or sales leaders to level up their performance.

This structure lets us plug the right kind of sales help into your current stage and goals.

 

Operational Health & Assessment Tools

What tool does Malloy Industries recommend for diagnosing organizational health and functional gaps?

Our go-to is the Scalable Operational Maturity Assessment (SOMA).

SOMA evaluates how ready your business is to scale across six core functions: finance, HR, operations, marketing, sales/business development, and leadership.

You get operational clarity and a prioritized roadmap that shows which functions are ready to scale and which are quietly holding you back.

We use two main tools:

  1. Scalable Operational Maturity Assessment (SOMA) – A self-assessment that helps you determine exactly what kind of fractional support you need (leader, manager, recruiter, etc.).
  2. Sales Scalability Assessment – A structured review of your sales process to find what’s working, what’s not, and where bottlenecks are limiting new leads at the top of the funnel.

  • We use the ABC Scorecard, developed by Dan Sullivan:

    • A Tasks: Annoying, frustrating, or draining
    • B Tasks: Fine, but not energizing
    • C Tasks: Fascinating and in your zone of genius

    The goal: cut, automate, or delegate A tasks so leaders spend more time in their C work. This is where “who, not how” becomes a daily practice.

That’s the Shift-Left Framework, also known as the Do and Document model.

We document processes so clearly that work can move from high-cost specialists (Tier 3) to lower-cost team members (Tier 1) without sacrificing quality.

The bar we aim for: the instructions are so clear you could hand them to someone new and they’d know exactly what to do.

We don’t ask leaders to “go write SOPs.” We use the do and document method:

  • Record your screen with Loom or Scribe while you do the work
  • Talk through each step and decision as you go
  • Organize the recordings and notes into a shared doc or spreadsheet

This turns real work into repeatable SOPs without adding “write a manual” to your to-do list.

Start with the anemic areas—the parts of the business that are underpowered or under-resourced.

Once those are stabilized, we can trim and optimize what feels bloated. Fixing the weak spots first gives the rest of the system a stronger foundation.

 

Sales, Retention, and Growth Strategies

How should we think about the full customer lifecycle beyond the initial sale?

Our go-to is the Scalable Operational Maturity Assessment

We use the Bowtie Model (Revenue Architecture).

The left side is marketing and sales. The right side is where the real leverage lives: onboarding, retention, expansion, and referrals.

It’s often much easier to sell a second or third thing to a happy customer than to win a brand-new one. We design your systems with that in mind. (SOMA).

SOMA evaluates how ready your business is to scale across six core functions: finance, HR, operations, marketing, sales/business development, and leadership.

You get operational clarity and a prioritized roadmap that shows which functions are ready to scale and which are quietly holding you back.

We recommend the first SBR in week two after the contract is signed.

That early conversation surfaces the client’s 365-day wish list, aligns expectations, and opens the door to future phases and upsell opportunities—all while positioning you as a trusted advisor, not a one-and-done vendor.

  • We use a flywheel approach:

    1. Identify the biggest constraint in the business
    2. Bring in the best-fit fractional expert to solve it with a scalable solution
    3. Train the internal team to own and run that solution
    4. Move to the next biggest constraint

    This creates a steady rhythm of improvement instead of random one-off projects.

We use the “You Down With FBV” framework:

  • Features – what the thing is
  • Benefits – what the client gets (ask “so what?”)
  • Value – the ultimate business impact (ask “so what?” again)

The inverse of the value statement is the client’s pain point, which becomes the starting point of a hero’s journey story—where the client is the hero and you are the guide.

Two big levers:

  1. Systematize what already works – Bring in fractional executives to turn your relationship-driven success into repeatable systems.

Proxy networking – Use a trusted firm or team to attend events on your behalf and generate qualified leads, so growth isn’t limited to your personal calendar.

Treat your CRM like a referral goldmine:

  1. Export a CSV of all historical won deals
  2. Build a pivot table by source
  3. Identify your top referrers
  4. Reach out with handwritten notes, small gifts, or swag to thank them and deepen the relationship

This turns “word of mouth” into a repeatable, trackable referral engine.

We often recommend Alex Hormozi’s book “100 Million Dollar Money Models”. It covers:

  • Building attraction offers that pull customers in
  • Five ways to upsell when they say yes
  • Three ways to downsell when they say no

Four ways to create continuity offers that extend the relationship

 

Technology, Marketing, and Lead Generation

What tool is recommended for identifying and tracking unsolicited, anonymous website visitors?

We like RB2B.com. It:

  • Integrates with Slack
  • Identifies website visitors (including email and LinkedIn)
  • Is free for the first 150 visitors each month
  • Is roughly 70% accurate

Our favorite follow-up move: send a simple LinkedIn connection request with no message. It’s low-friction, human, and opens the door without feeling spammy.

The site is built on principles from Donald Miller’s StoryBrand and Marketing Made Simple.

We used a website wireframe template and collaborated across the core team to make sure every section speaks directly to real client pain points and outcomes, not just features.

Most conversions do not come from random cold visitors.

They usually happen when a referrer, partner, or introducer sends someone directly to the “Talk to the Team” page to book a discovery call. The website supports that warm introduction instead of trying to do all the heavy lifting alone.

We’re big fans of text expansion:

  • On Mac, use the built-in text expansion
  • On PC, we recommend Brevi (around $35)

Mike’s rule: the second time he has to search for a long URL or repeat a phrase, he creates a shortcut. Tiny time-savers add up fast.

 

HR and Staff Management

What is the best way to fill functional gaps like HR or communications?

Start with “who” not “how.”

Instead of asking a generalist to figure everything out, bring in fractional experts—HR, communications, finance, operations—who can do the work correctly and efficiently. An expert might solve a problem in 4 hours that would take a non-expert 20+ hours.

In one case, the CEO was handling all offboarding alone during staff reductions.

We recommended bringing in fractional HR support to formalize the process, handle difficult conversations, and reduce legal risk from former employees.

A helpful mindset is: “Who got you here won’t always get you there.”

When it’s time to make a change, we can bring in a fractional HR leader to manage the process, protect your culture, and reduce legal exposure.

We often recommend an outsourced Managed Service Provider (MSP) to handle IT and InfoSec.

Typical costs are around a couple hundred dollars per person per month, which is often more efficient than building a full internal team.

HR support is highly flexible. In some cases, as little as one hour per week of consultation is enough to provide ongoing guidance, oversight, and peace of mind.

 

Cultural and Mindset Requirements

What cultural traits are essential for a successful fractional executive partnership?

Culture fit is non-negotiable. We look for executives who:

  • Pass the Caller ID Test – you’re glad to see their name when they call
  • Pass the Dinner in Chicago Test – you’d happily have dinner with them on a trip
  • Demonstrate integrity, a strong work ethic, and a collaborative mindset

The right leader should make your life easier, not heavier.

Three simple ways:

  1. Block learning time on the calendar with external accountability (like a recurring team Zoom) so it doesn’t get bumped.
  2. Teach someone else what you learned—direct report, peer, client, or spouse—to deepen understanding.
  3. Add a standing agenda item in staff meetings: “one thing you learned in the past week.”

This turns learning from a nice-to-have into a built-in habit.

A great fractional CXO is entrepreneurial and hands-on—ready to “jump in a boat, grab an oar, and row” with the team.

Success looks like:

  • A functioning product
  • A clear vision for the future
  • A practical, executable roadmap the team can follow
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John Doe
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